My shocking confession had left all three of them frozen, expressions of pure bewilderment plastered across their faces. The drone of the television was the only sound in the living room; no one else so much as twitched.
Sure, it was a lot to take in, but was it really worth that much shock?
"Uh, are you guys okay? Why don't you have some coffee and try to calm down?"
"O-Oh, right."
"Y-Yes, good idea."
"U-Uh-huh."
The three of them began to sip their coffee with stiff, mechanical movements. But with their minds clearly elsewhere, the inevitable happened.
"“Hot?!”" they yelled in unison.
They sputtered the coffee back into their cups and clutched their mouths in pain.
Well, that was bound to happen. Are they going to be all right?
"Everyone, calm down. Here, have some tissues."
"“Th-Thanks.”"
After wiping their mouths and taking a few breaths, the three of them finally seemed to regain their composure. It looked like the stinging burns in their mouths had finally snapped them back to reality.
After a brief pause, the discussion resumed.
"So, Daiki," Dad started. "Is it true what you said? That you got fifty million yen from the dungeon?"
"Yeah, it’s true. I can’t tell you which drop item it came from, but it’s legitimate money, so don't worry."
"“...Really?”"
I gave them a smile and asserted that it was perfectly clean money to ease their minds, but they still looked at me with deep suspicion. To be fair, if someone suddenly told me they’d made fifty million yen from dungeon exploration, I’d think it was shady too.
I decided to explain the circumstances as best I could without violating my confidentiality agreement.
"It’s only natural for you to think it's suspicious given the amount, but it really is the truth. I know you won't be satisfied with just that, so I'll give you a bit more detail. But please, I'm under a non-disclosure agreement, so don't push for specifics. And obviously, don't tell anyone else what you hear here. It would be a nightmare if we had to start talking about breach of contract penalties."
After setting those ground rules, I explained the situation and our interactions with the Dungeon Association, while keeping the finer details vague.
"The only people with me when I got this drop item were my usual party members: me, Yuji, and Hiiragi-san. Mika wasn't with us, so she doesn't know anything about it."
"Yeah, this is the first I've heard of it," Mika added. "To think Onii-chan and the others found a treasure like that..."
"Well, it's not the kind of thing you go around bragging about, especially with the confidentiality agreement. So, I'm just making it clear now that Mika has nothing to do with this specific item."
"I see... I understand."
Mika looked a bit sulky, clearly unhappy that I’d kept such a massive find a secret. But look, I really couldn't talk about an item that came with legal gag orders.
Seeing Mika's reaction, Mom and Dad seemed satisfied, accepting that she hadn't been involved in this particular windfall.
"Anyway, back to the story," I continued. "We were doing our usual dungeon exploration when we obtained a certain drop item. That’s the thing that turned into the fifty million yen. After some back-and-forth with the Dungeon Association, we turned the item over to them."
"Wait, wait. 'Back-and-forth'? That's hardly an explanation," Dad pointed out.
"Please, just assume that's the part covered by the non-disclosure and don't push it. Anyway, once they appraised the item, it turned out to be the kind of thing they couldn't allow to go public. Oh, not because it's dangerous, but because its utility is so high that they might not be able to manage the impact it would have on the current system."
"...Is that so?"
Mom and Dad looked on with a mix of surprise and confusion, while Mika listened intently, her eyes wide with curiosity.
Don't look at me like that, Mika. I'm still not telling you.
"So, after discussing how to handle it, the Association offered to buy the item for a high price, provided we kept our mouths shut about its existence."
"...In other words, that fifty million yen was hush money to ensure you didn't talk about the item?"
"Exactly. The restriction might be lifted once the item is officially sanctioned and the Association works out how to manage it, but for now, they took the physical item and imposed a confidentiality agreement."
"I see..."
Though the explanation glossed over the most important parts, I think they understood the nature of the money. It wasn't "dirty," but it was the kind of thing you couldn't talk about even with family without a very good reason.
While Mom and Dad seemed to accept why I had kept quiet, Mika threw a question at me, her face practically screaming that she was dying to know more.
"Hey, hey, Onii-chan, do you think I could find a drop item like that too?"
"Who knows? I can only say you'd have to be incredibly lucky. It's not the kind of thing you can just aim for. It was a total fluke that we found it, and even though we've been diving for quite a while, we've only ever seen it that one time."
"Oh..."
"I'm telling you this just in case, but don't go doing anything reckless trying to find one, okay? There's no point if you end up getting hurt."
I made sure to emphasize this so Mika wouldn't get blinded by the prospect of a massive payday. Given her current skills, she and her friends could earn plenty of money without desperately hunting for a one-in-a-million rare drop.
Mika seemed to realize this as well and nodded with a wry smile.
"Yeah, of course. I won't go out of my way to look for it, but it's kind of a dream knowing that those kinds of items are actually out there."
"Well, if you ever find one, just consider yourself lucky. Even if it's not the same thing we found, there are other 'big wins' out there."
"You're right."
Mika nodded in agreement, but then Mom and Dad spoke up, their voices trembling with fresh agitation. Mika and I tilted our heads, watching them as they tried to steady themselves.
"Daiki, and Mika too... you're both talking about this with such nonchalance," Dad said. "What Daiki got wasn't fifty thousand or five hundred thousand—it was fifty million yen."
"That's right," Mom added. "How can you two just sit there and chat about it so calmly?"
" "..." "
For a moment, Mika and I didn't understand the question. Then it clicked.
It seemed our sense of money had drifted quite far toward an explorer's perspective.
To explain, Mika and I showed Mom and Dad the standard income of successful explorers and the exchange list for drop items published on the Association's website. We walked them through what a typical explorer actually earned.
They had seen specials on explorers on TV, so they had a general idea of the income, but those programs usually focused on beginners or those just about to graduate from the beginner stage.
"I see. It seems we knew far too little about the explorer profession," Dad admitted.
"Yes," Mom agreed. "I've heard on the news that buyback prices for drop items have been falling lately, but from what you're saying, that only applies to certain things."
"Yeah, pretty much. Prices have gone down, but that's mostly for items from floors where everyone crowds together. Since there are so many people, the volume of those items being delivered to the Association is huge."
"Ever since we started focusing on the lower floors, we haven't really felt the price drop," Mika explained. "We still get paid a decent amount for what we bring back."
Mom and Dad looked somewhat conflicted but seemed to accept our earlier nonchalance.
Then, pressing a hand to his forehead, Dad broached a topic he seemed hesitant to bring up.
"Listen, Daiki, Mika. Normally, I shouldn't ask until you're ready to tell us, but I think it's better to know now. You two... how much have you actually earned from being explorers since the start of the year?"
" "..." "
At the question, Mika and I exchanged a look. Mom was also staring straight at us, waiting for the number.
It was something we’d have to disclose eventually, so I didn't mind saying it, but I hadn't been mentally prepared for it to come up right now. However, since we were having a serious talk, I couldn't exactly refuse. I steeled myself, gave a small nod to Mika—who looked anxious—and spoke.
"Well... leaving out the specifics, I've already cleared ten million yen this year, not including that fifty million. And since there's still time left in the year, I expect that to go up."
"Me too..." Mika added. "If I keep up this pace, I think I'll exceed ten million yen by the end of the year."
The revelation of our income hit them like a physical blow. Mom and Dad froze for a moment before letting out long, heavy sighs and staring silently at the ceiling.
Apparently, our earnings were far beyond anything they had imagined.
" "..." "
" "..." "
An awkward silence filled the living room. Mika and I didn't know what to do; we just sat there and waited for them to process it.
After a full minute of silence, Dad finally broke the quiet, sounding completely drained.
"I see. You two have been earning that much... Your father had no idea."
"Ah, well, yeah. In our case, we were much luckier than most. You know how Yuji's family runs a dojo, right, Dad?"
I decided to attribute our success to Juzo-san's guidance, using that to gloss over the fact that our levels were far above the average. It wasn't a total lie, anyway—Juzo-san's help was the reason we hadn't been overwhelmed by the sudden strength we gained from leveling up.
"Yes, Hirose-kun's family business? I heard about it when he introduced himself."
"Through that connection, when we first started out, we were able to get all sorts of training from Yuji's grandfather, the dojo master. While other explorers were struggling to control the power they gained from leveling up, we learned how to use it properly under a real expert. I think getting that head start is the main reason we've been able to earn this much."
"I was able to get training through Onii-chan's introduction too," Mika said. "It helped me handle things so much better than the other kids. That's why I was able to stop being a beginner so quickly..."
"Now that you mention it, I remember hearing that explorers have been flocking to martial arts classes lately," Mom mused. "So that was why..."
They seemed to accept the explanation. I wasn't sure if they were truly convinced, but it was a plausible reason they could swallow.
Still, it wasn't easy for them to digest. Mom and Dad continued eating their cake and drinking their coffee in silence for a while, as if trying to soothe their mental fatigue.
Once the cake was gone and the coffee refilled, they finally seemed calm enough to return to the original topic. After more than thirty minutes of preamble, we could finally get to the main point.
"So, about this plan to buy land for a training ground," Dad said. "How far along is it?"
"For now, we’ve laid out the conditions we want, and Juzo-san introduced us to a real estate agent he knows. We've been looking at candidate sites with him."
"You're already scouting properties...?"
"Yeah. But as we look at the places that fit our criteria, we keep coming up with new requests, so it's been a slow process. But..."
I paused and glanced at the three of them before speaking clearly.
"We found a really good property, so the discussion has moved to whether we should go ahead and buy it."
Mom, Dad, and Mika all widened their eyes in shock once again. They clearly hadn't expected things to have progressed that far.